Understand opposition to globalization

Globalization is a process that no human being can speed up, slow down or stop. But that doesn’t mean people won’t try.

Governments and citizens across the world either try and benefit from globalization (and try to limit its negative effects) or try to avoid it.

On this course you’ll learn about some of the reasons why people are either pro or anti globalization. You’ll discover why some governments and countries choose boundaries and demarcation and others choose integration.

0:23Skip to 0 minutes and 23 secondsgoes even further: it splits countries into supporters of change and its opponents. This sets it apart from the former waves of sudden acceleration and proliferation of trade and war. In the past, the majority of a population was either not affected by world affairs or simply ignored them. People are now confronted to countless changes in their everyday life. Some are welcome, like a better health care, or Internet connection. Some are not, like unemployment or increasing inequality. Above all, the states that made it all possible are now exposed to the undesirable and unexpected impact of a global vulnerability to world trends. Take the world news, every morning, at random,

1:10Skip to 1 minute and 10 secondsduring the past five years: nationalism has made a comeback with a touch of populism (nearly half of the electorate in France, Italy and the US voted for a populist party in 2016-2017). These voters refused to entrust the major stakeholders of the globalization process – international organizations, multinational corporations, and global finance. There are acute divisions within countries as different as Brazil, Venezuela, Austria, and Ukraine. And, of course, we are aware of people’s fatigue with extant arrangements such as the European Union, NATO, trade agreements, and even the G 20. Europe is the place where such movements are the most visible. This is where the temptation to leave has been put into practice.

2:01Skip to 2 minutes and 1 secondThis is where GREXIT, BREXIT and even FREXIT were the major issues in overheated electoral campaigns in Greece, Britain, and France. Simultaneously, Donald Trump has promised to wall up the United States – but there is evidence that this desire to pull out from treatises and organizations is less Western than global.

2:27Skip to 2 minutes and 27 secondsIn Turkey, Russia, and Venezuela, nationalists fight hard to monopolize power and limit foreign influence on their political system. The main divide now opposes those who want to retrieve popular sovereignty and those who can trade it off for more welfare or more wealth.

2:45Skip to 2 minutes and 45 secondsOr more rights: leaving international coalitions does not suffice; refusing standardization and uniformity matters even more. The people want to govern, against politicians, political parties, and world institutions. They want to move and settle wherever they like. They want justice and efficiency. This course tells the story of this titanic conflict between the elites and the people to rule the world and even their own country. Should they step out of the leading group of nations on their way to a more global world? Or should they stay with them? Leave or remain; globalize or perish; or, more simply, adapt or retreat.

What topics will you&nbspcover?

Defection from alliances, treaties and organizations

Democratic fatigue and populist demands

Regionalization and Europeanization

Xenophobia and cosmopolitanism

Relocations and economic nationalism

Protectionism and global competition

When would you like to&nbspstart?

Available now

This course started 12 November 2018

What will you&nbspachieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Evaluate the balance of power between isolationists and federalists, local communities and cosmopolitans.

Interpret tentative accounts of withdrawal from institutions and treaties (Brexit, Trump, Russia or Turkey) as they are sketchily explained in the press and the social media.

Explore major concepts in political science and international studies (including history, international sociology, and international economics).

Who is the course&nbspfor?

Those who who would like selected, organized readings about current events.

Any B.A. level in these fields is an asset; it is not at all required.

Every learner unhappy with simple truths is welcome.

If you are taking this course as part of the Global Studies: International Relations and World Politics program for credit, you will be expected to spend 10 hours per week studying this course. If you are not taking the course for credit, 6 hours per week is expected for basic understanding.